The Welsh government said: "We have made a commitment to work with Cardiff City Council to look at the feasibility of bidding to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

"We are working with the council and other key stakeholders, such as the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales (CGCW), to meet that commitment."

Chris Jenkins, of CGCW said there was "no decision yet, but the work has started on the feasibility study".

He said there was a lot of work to be done, and the CGCW was also working with the Commonwealth Federation.

Anne Ellis, Chef de Mission for Wales at the Commonwealth Games 2006, and the current president of the Commonwealth Games, said the cost was likely to be "in the hundreds of millions".

She added: "We all know that it would be brilliant for the athletes and really good for Wales in an outward-looking perspective, but whether we can afford it and whether we have the volunteers and we have the infrastructure, that's another matter, and we can only find out by a feasibility study."

Asked if Wales could afford it, she replied: "If it would mean that we were not able to support school sports or closures of swimming pools or grounds anywhere, I think we couldn't.

"If we could guarantee that school sports would have all the funding they needed, clubs and the infrastructure in Welsh sport would continue to have the money they need to play their sport, and we can guarantee we're not going to close swimming pools, we're not going to close playing fields, then I think it would be a runner.